Foreign Minister of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin and Foreign Minister of Sri-Lanka Mangala Samaraweera have signed inter-state agreements on mutual legal assistance in criminal cases, extradition of lawbreakers and transfer of sentenced persons.

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The treaty was signed during Samaraweera's visit to Kiev, the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reported on Saturday.

During the meeting two sides have discussed the state and further development of relations between Ukraine and Sri Lanka in wide range of areas, both at bilateral level and within international organizations, expansion of the existing bilateral legal base and promotion of the dialogue between the foreign ministries of both countries.

Klimkin wrote on his Twitter page: "I met the Sri-Lankan counterpart. Different corners of the world – the same goals. We have new agreement with Ski-Lanka that would help us to jointly fight corruption, crime and protect our citizens abroad."

This treaty is seen as a move by the government against former Ambassador of Sri Lanka in Russia Udayanga Weeratunga, who now resides in Ukraine.

The government claims that Weeratunga was involved in many illegal activities including arms smuggling.

Weeratunga refutes allegations and says that there are no charges against him in Ukraine. However, with this treaty, the government could request the Ukrainian government to extradite him in the case of a legal move against Weeratunga's alleged wrongdoings.